Realizing sustainable development is a major challenge for most African countries.
Economic growth in most African countries is largely centered on the extraction of natural
resources, particularly minerals. Rather than facilitate development, the extraction of
natural resources in most countries, has been a source of adverse outcomes. That is, natural
resources led to ‘the resource curse’, partly because of bad governance and leadership.
Through governance and leadership, Botswana emerged differently. The country
transformed itself to a middle income status through the prudent utilization and
management of mineral (non-renewable) resources; making Botswana one of the few
resource rich countries that have so far avoided the blight of the ‘the resource curse’. Yet,
the sole reliance on one non-renewable resource is risky as evidenced by the recent global
financial crisis. Sustainable development necessitates greater emphasis on renewable
resources whose utilization and management require a different strategy to drive
development forward. The paper identifies governance and leadership amongst the central
tenets to Botswana’s development success story. It argues that, for the last four decades its
governance and leadership strategy served the country well, given the context of the time.
Going forward, an enhanced governance and leadership strategy is necessary to
successfully exploit and manage the country’s resources for the benefit of all. To this
extent, the paper concludes that other African countries need to consider and review their
governance structures in order to realize sustainable development.